With a pulley of 5 strings, why is each string experiencing 10 N of force and no…

With a pulley of 5 strings, why is each string experiencing 10 N of force and not 2 N apiece (when you pull on the string with 10 N of force)?

When you pull on the string with a 10 N force, you create 10 N of tension in that string. If there is less tension anywhere in the string, then that portion of the string will accelerate toward the side with more tension. That’s why the tension in each string of a multiple pulley is 10 N when you pull on its loose end with a force of 10 N. The 5 strings are really just parts of the same string and that string has to have 10 N of tension in it.